Seattle's pitching staff has been M's-m-m good

Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Felix Hernandez, left, is enjoying a lot of moments as leader of a staff that could be making history and wind up in the playoffs. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
The Associated Press

McClendon, by no means the gushy type, was talking about an M’s pitching staff that’s indeed been going about as low as any team’s gone in 40 years. Seattle’s in position to become the first club since the 1974 Oakland Athletics to finish a non-strike season with an earned-run average below 3.00.

Now, the A’s of 2014 and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim still are comfortably ahead of Seattle in the AL West Division with baseball's two best records, but the Mariners are right up there in the wild-card race. They haven’t been to a postseason game since finishing the 2001 regular season with 116 wins, only to lose the ALCS to New York in five games.

No fewer than 23 big-league teams are maintaining staff ERA’s under 4.00, with five of the other seven in the AL, where the designated hitter generally blows up pitching stats beyond compare. Incidentally, the Padres are third overall at 3.12, first in bullpen at 2.35 to Seattle’s 2.43.

“Talk about unique — we’ve got it all,” catcher Mike Zunino told the Seattle Times. “We have guys with great curveballs, great cutters, great sliders, guys with plus fastballs. We have the whole spectrum covered. To have that much talent, we can pretty much match up with any lineup.”

The amazing part of the Mariners’ pitching success is the fact that Seattle’s had to overcome huge health issues with their extraordinary depth behind uber-ace Felix Hernandez. Seattle’s gone through 10 different starters, losing No. 2 Hisashi Iwakuma for a month, lefthanded flamethrower James Paxton for several months and Taijuan Walker for all but three starts this season.

Then again, that’s how Chris Young got his foot in the door in Seattle, where he’s become a revelation and lock-cinch for Comeback Player of the Year. With his 12-6 record (and 3.04 ERA), Young already has matched his career high in wins, including his time as an All-Star right-hander in San Diego.

Counting thumbs

When he went off to be the new manager of the Chicago Cubs, a job that tests the patience of Job, the Padres spoke of how their now ex-bench coach had a “fire” burning inside him. It’s gone outside.

In his first 4 ½ months, Rick Renteria has been ejected from five games, tying Joe Maddon of the Tampa Bay Rays for the major league lead. In this year of Bobby Cox’s induction into the Hall of Fame – he’s the all-time champ with 161 thumbs -- Maddon brought his career total to 38.

Maddon also would appear to have a manager in the making at shortstop. According to the SFG Wire, Yuniel Escobar’s the only uniformed personnel in the majors with three or more ejections this season, and he’s already up to eight for his career. The only other non-skipper on the list is Boston Red Sox third-base coach Brian Butterfield, who’s had three of his six ejections this season.